


Soldier

by Snowelle



Series: What Happens in The Academy [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Academy, Action, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, SOLDIER - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowelle/pseuds/Snowelle
Summary: They were all fighting for something. But at the end of the day, who would fight for them?Contestshipping, Pokeshipping, Ikarishipping, OldrivalshippingFantasy/Action/Magic AU[This is the main story for the 4 teaser one-shots I posted before]
Relationships: Haruka | May/Shuu | Drew, Hikari | Dawn/Shinji | Paul, Kasumi | Misty/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Leaf/Ookido Shigeru | Gary Oak
Series: What Happens in The Academy [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020088
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! The main story for my 4 one-shot trailers is here. If you haven't already read them, I'd highly recommend going back and doing so because it'll give you some background. Beginning stories is always the worst part of the writing process for me so please forgive the amount of time this took as well as the quality. I can only improve from here, right?
> 
> At least that's the hope :)
> 
> With all that being said, I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of this fic. I hope to get the next chapter out as soon as I can, but it might take some time so please bear with me as I navigate writing this story.

_"Mama, why do you and Papa have to leave?"_

_The young girl clutched her blanket tightly in her little fists and desperately fought back the tears forming in her big blue eyes. Her parents were leaving again and she was sad, but her mother had always told her to be brave. And brave little girls didn't cry._

_"We'll be back before you know it, baby," her mother hugged her tight, "We always come back, isn't that right?"_

_The girl sniffled and nodded, her bottom lip quivering._

_"We'll come back soon and Papa and I will take you and Max wherever you want to go," the woman smiled tenderly at her daughter, brushing back her light brown bangs._

_"C-can we go to a ball?" the girl's eyes lit up as she imagined it and she started to smile, "Mama can be a princess and Papa can be a prince and me and Max will protect you from the evil Queen!"_

_"What has Melle been reading to you?" the woman chuckled and picked up the girl. "We'll take you to a ball when we get back okay?"_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

_"Caroline, it's time to go," Caroline turned around to see her husband standing at the door of the house. The girl ran over to her father and hugged his leg._

_"Papa, Mama promised to take us to a ball. So you have to come back, okay?"_

_"Of course, honey," he ruffled her hair affectionately._

_She let go and looked up at her parents, eyes still watery, but bright smile on her face. They'd come back. She believed it._

_"Behave for Melle, okay?"_

_She nodded._

_"And May, take care of your brother…"_

"Well if it isn't May Maple."

A deep voice jolted May out of her thoughts and she registered a sweaty hand on her bare shoulder. She whipped her head around to see a portly, middle-aged man with confident eyes lecherously gazing down at the bodice of her black evening gown.

_'Great, just what I needed tonight.'_

She resisted the urge to shudder and gently shrugged the hand off of her shoulder, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"Mr. Ellis, I didn't expect to see you tonight."

"Business trip was cancelled," he drunkenly slid the black bar stool next to her closer and took a seat, closing into her space uncomfortably.

"Thought I'd come over to talk some business."

May's smile strained and she shifted as far to the edge of her seat as she could without falling off. For the past hour she had been sitting peacefully at the elegant bar and occasionally talking to acquaintances. She was only at this benefit ball at the insistence of the last family she worked for and it had drained her energy just sitting there. Let alone having to deal with the likes of a grimy, rich old man who thought he could finesse her into bed.

"I'm actually not going to be working for a while. Did your wife want a new piece?"

His eyes fell back down to her dress and she immediately wished she had worn something that covered her back a little more. Or covered her back at all.

 _'Not that it would make a difference_ '

"My wife?" his eyes were unfocused, and he was leaning forward so far May could smell the brandy in his breath.

"No, no, this isn't for my wife. This request is…personal."

"I'm afraid I—"

"Sorry it took me so long to get back," a familiar voice interrupted her and recognition hit her like a truck. For the second time that night she cursed her bad fortune. The new addition to the conversation tugged her gently up and out of her seat and she internally rolled her eyes at men and their tendency to jump to unnecessary manhandling. But for now, in the interest of shaking off a slimy middle-aged man, she would acquiesce.

She shifted as close to him as she could manage, wrapped her hand around his strong bicep, and gave him the sweetest smile she could manage.

"I've been waiting forever, Drew. Let's go."

"What do you mean you've been waiting?" Mr. Ellis sputtered as he managed to stand up from his seat and shake an accusatory finger at May. "You've been alone all night!" he slurred the words, staggering a little.

"She's here as a special guest of the Hayden family. If I were you, Ellis, I'd pay closer attention to who you're flirting with."

Although his face was calm, Drew's voice was as glacial as May had ever heard it. In all fairness, she wasn't exactly an expert in all things Drew Hayden. But even she could tell there was more to this than just helping her out of a sticky situation.

"Might I remind you; I have a lot of say in who gets invited to this benefit. If you don't want trouble, don't start it," Drew said curtly. The warning in his eyes was as clear as day—he was truly angry. And who could deny the influence of the Hayden heir?

Mr. Ellis' face paled.

When May saw Drew slightly curl his fists, she gently tugged on his arm.

"Let's go," she said quietly. "It's not worth the trouble."

After another brief glance in the inebriated man's direction, Drew led May away from the bar. He took her through a set of double glass doors away from the main room and onto a spacious balcony. It was a warm summer night, typical of LaRousse, and the sky was dotted with stars. Below them was a lush garden with a running fountain and hundreds of fireflies buzzed through the landscape. There were countless flowers blooming brightly, but the ones that stood out the most were the blood red roses, illuminated by soft garden lights. The balcony itself was a standard ivory color, but vines were wrapped artfully around the columns of the railing, peppered with more colorful flowers.

It was beautiful. Almost out of a fairytale.

 _"As expected of a Hayden property, I guess."_ May thought, smiling at the calming nature of it all. The warmth combined with the glow of fireflies allowed her to relax her tense shoulders.

Her mother would've loved this place. She had always been a fan of gardens. When May was young, her parents would take her to a lovely garden near their house and they'd sit on benches and talk and laugh for hours while she ran around chasing butterflies and eating questionable grass. When she was seven, they had even started maintaining a garden of their own on their property. Rather than roses, their garden was centered around her parents' favorite hydrangeas, but it didn't lose to this one in elegance and beauty.

15 years had passed and a beautiful garden could still render her speechless.

Drew cleared his throat and May realized that she had strayed to the edge, in a trance. She quickly composed herself and turned back to him, walking closer until she could clearly see his emerald eyes and could almost count every thick, dark lash that framed them.

"Darren and Ella told me you weren't going to be here tonight," she said quietly, scanning his ever-expressive eyes. There was a hint of longing in them that she was terrified to address.

"I wasn't."

"But here you are."

"Here I am."

"Why?"

"Do I need to explain why I came to my parents' party?" he raised an eyebrow. "I should be asking you that question."

"Okay fine. Anyway, I could've handled Ellis on my own," she said firmly, holding his gaze. "But thank you for your help."

A barely-there smile crossed his lips.

"You could have. But he deserved a scare," a hard look took hold of his eyes. What could possibly make a Hayden snap? Not that she was close enough to him to ask.

Not that she even wanted to be.

Soft music streamed into the balcony from the ballroom. An uncomfortable silence passed over the pair—a familiar tension that seemed to visit every time they met. And they both knew very well where that tension led. Drew brushed her hand with his own, eyes still trained on hers, daring her to take it further. Brief flashes of soft skin and whispered affections fluttered through her mind.

May wasn't going to let that happen this time. At least, that's what she always told herself.

But a dance shouldn't hurt, right?

She allowed him to pull her flush to his body and let his hand come to a rest at her hip. Her own hand curled on his shoulder. She felt the rippling muscle underneath his suit jacket and felt something in her stomach coil uncomfortably tight. In just moments, they were gently swaying to the faint music and she had to fight to push all her intrusive thoughts back into the recesses of her mind.

"Why _are_ you here?" Drew murmured after a while, looking at her intently. The green of his eyes was almost electric. The way she best remembered them was on cold nights through the haze of lust and expensive liquor and the blazing green was so symbolic of _him_. It was unsettling.

She felt a sudden chill despite the mild weather and broke eye contact.

"I finished the piece your parents wanted—a clock. When I went to drop it off this morning, they insisted on inviting me here."

May spoke quietly and kept her gaze trained on the flowers instead of him.

"I hope you didn't mess up. My mother is planning on displaying it right by the entrance."

May scoffed.

"I never mess up, Hayden."

"I'm sure." Drew's tone was playful, teasing even.

"Why did you bring me all the way out here?" she asked, exerting incredible effort to feign disinterest. "Alone on a beautiful balcony under the stars. Surrounded by roses. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me."

He let out a small laugh, deep and throaty, and May couldn't help but look back to him. Meeting his gaze, more intense than before. Watching him inch forward until their mouths were close to touching.

"Is it working?"

She sucked in a breath. They were about to cross the line.

"Not quite," she smiled and broke away from him.

_A lie._

"But you're welcome to keep trying," she quipped.

May turned away from him and walked back towards the doors to go inside. She felt the absence of his touch immediately, but she needed to leave. As much as she enjoyed the back and forth, tonight she was determined. There would be no slipping up. Because tomorrow was finally the day.

She paused at the doorway and looked back at Drew's standing form. His electric eyes were still trained on her, a cocktail of complicated emotions swimming behind them. A breeze blew his hair slightly and May thought he fit right into the ethereal scenery. It was beautiful and a little heartbreaking. He was like a prince, right out of a fairytale.

Too bad she wasn't anything near a princess.

"Goodbye, Drew."

***

" _Goodbye, Drew_ "

Drew played the words over and over in his head. He chuckled to himself, leaning against the railing of the balcony. He felt the prick of thorns from a vine poke through the fabric of his shirt.

He hadn't planned on being here tonight. Tomorrow was an important day—or so he was told—so he thought he'd just relax a little. But the minute he heard she would be here; he couldn't help himself. He had spent most of the night wondering if they would even make eye contact.

He and May hadn't seen each other in months, not since the last time they had indulged in their secret fling. When he had woken up the next morning and she was still there—curled into his chest, looking smaller than he had ever seen—something in him had shifted.

Towards what? He didn't know. But he could sense that things weren't quite the same between them. Not that either of them would do anything about it. They were only friends with benefits, but really it was mostly just the "benefits" part.

Their relationship (or lack thereof) was an addiction: It gripped them when they least expected it, healed them for a few precious moments, and always hurt them in the end. But they still itched for more, despite the emptiness of it all.

So why did it all change?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. It wasn't worth dwelling on something so abstract. Besides, May seemed to think it was all over.

She had said goodbye with such finality—she probably didn't expect to see him for a long time. If only she knew how wrong she was.

The thought made him chuckle again.

The doors of the balcony burst open and Misty and Ash walked through, hurriedly approaching him.

"Drew, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you," Misty huffed, straightening out the now-disheveled sleeves of her royal blue gown.

"Well, you found me," Drew spoke dryly, not appreciating the intrusion. All the warmth he felt from his secret dance with May vanished into the summer air, as if it had never happened at all.

"I don't appreciate your tone," Misty shot back with a glare.

"What is so urgent that you willingly cut your time with your boyfriend short to come find me?"

Mistry blushed bright red almost matching her hair.

"He's not my—I'm not his—"

"Your father wants to talk to us," Ash interrupted, gently patting Misty on the back to calm her down, "It's about the entrance ceremony tomorrow."

"Right," Drew held back a sigh. The party was as good as over, anyway.

"Let's go then," he said as he pushed off the balcony railing and went to go inside. His friends quickly followed.

"By the way, who was that girl who just left here?" Ash asked, tilting his head curiously.

Drew paused and looked back briefly at the balcony that was enshrouded in the soft glow of fireflies and starlight.

"Just someone I know."

* * *

The courtyard of the building was alive with whispers and excitement. The usual grogginess of a Monday morning was gone and replaced with an air of buzzing, restless curiosity.

"We have a Hayden _and_ the daughter of a Berlitz?"

"Not to mention, one of the Sensational Sisters!"

"No, you _idiot_ , the Sensational Sisters graduated years ago. It's the youngest Waterflower. Missie I think?"

"That's not even important. Have you seen the scores in this new batch? They're insane!"

Amidst the chatter, Dawn Berlitz slipped through the side gate into the bustling courtyard. Her navy-blue hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, lucky hairclip in place, and her uniform was freshly ironed. With all the people crowding the main gates, hardly anyone noticed her petite form walking steadily towards the one of the side entrances of the building.

Dawn looked up at the towering structure and smiled. It was everything she had imagined—giant, imposing, and modern. It stood tall and wide, with a slightly curved shape. The tinted glass panels spanning the sides were punctuated with rows of dark gray stone. Each door sported a scanner and she pulled her keycard out of her bag in preparation, hands slightly shaking.

Her excitement was palpable. It was hardly the same place her mother had studied in, with all the renovations and new architecture, but she had no doubt that these next few years would transform her in the same ways. This was the moment she had dreamt of since she was a child, when she would stumble through training sessions on wobbly knees with a wooden sword.

She took a breath and as she was walking closer to the doors, she tripped and slammed into a person walking right in front of her.

' _Of course, I trip on my first day.'_ Embarrassment overrode her excitement as she registered the fact that she was right on top of the poor woman she had just bulldozed down. The woman looked to be around her age, with silky dark brown hair that Dawn immediately envied and deep green eyes. She was also gorgeous, to the extent where Dawn almost blushed just being in her presence.

"I'm so sorry," Dawn squeaked, quickly scrambling off of her and standing up. She held out a hand to the woman, who took it with a grateful smile.

"Ooh, some action on the very first day? Give a man some time to adjust." The man who had been walking with the woman whistled.

"Oh, shut up Gary," the brunette rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry about him. He was dropped on his head as a child and never fully recovered."

Dawn giggled at the now-pouting Gary and shook her head.

"It's okay! I'm sorry for running into you like that. I got a little overzealous."

"I understand. I could hardly sleep last night so I'm kind of out of it as well. Are you a new student too? My name's Leaf."

"I'm Dawn, nice to meet you—"

"And I'm Gary Oak, pleasure to meet you Dawn," Gary interrupted, flicking some of his hair out of his face and winking at the navy-haired girl. She looked at him, confused. Was he trying to flirt?

Leaf jabbed him lightly with her elbow and glared.

"Stop scaring people away with your bad habits," she warned. "Sorry again. We're from the outer lands and he's not really used to La Rousse manners yet. He thinks flirting is a personality trait."

"I'm not ashamed to admit it," Gary smirked, throwing his arms around both Dawn and Leaf's shoulders and situating himself between them. "Now that I've got two lovely ladies at my side, I can take anything the academy throws at me."

This time he received a hard smack on the shoulder from Leaf as she pulled Dawn away from him.

"Let's go. You can just be my friend, don't worry about him. I doubt he'll last long here anyway," she stuck her tongue out at Gary in such a childish way and he responded in such an equally immature way that Dawn couldn't help but laugh and find the whole exchange adorable. They looked like they were in their 20s like her, but their energy together reminded her of squabbling kids. It made her feel strangely comfortable.

"Are you Dawn Berlitz by the way? I just saw the placements this morning. It's amazing that you're already in 4th." Leaf tilted her head down to look at her, eyes full of admiration. She was quite a bit taller than Dawn, even with Dawn's platformed training shoes.

"I'm assuming you're the Leaf Green who's in 7th, so you're no slouch either."

Dawn's bright smile strained slightly. She was a pretty competitive person by nature, so she was miffed that three people had ranked above her in the entrance exams. Especially since she had never even heard of the woman who was ranked first. At least Drew Hayden and Misty Waterflower were familiar names to her.

A sudden commotion at the front gates made the three of them pause and look back. A group of three had walked in: the man with green hair looked bored, the black-haired man trailing behind him was smiling and waving at everyone watching, and the red-haired woman had a serious expression on her face. Dawn recognized them immediately.

"Ah, that must be the Hayden and Waterflower heirs. Must be nice." Leaf mumbled the last comment, a strange expression on her face. Gary had also gone quiet, looking in the direction of the commotion.

"Yeah…" Dawn trailed off. Her eyes focused on a woman with chestnut brown hair who was standing a small distance away from them. There was a look of shock on her face—as if she had been struck—and she stared slack-jawed at the three newcomers. A man with long, dusky purple hair who was standing next to her tapped her on the shoulder and gestured towards the doors of the building. The woman seemed to snap out of whatever was going on and looked apologetically at the man before the two of them walked towards the training center.

Dawn wondered what that was about.

She had a feeling things were going to get very interesting.


End file.
